[DO NOT PUBLISH]

IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT

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No. 18-11190

Non-Argument Calendar

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D.C. Docket No. 6:17-cr-00140-PGB-KRS-1

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, 

 Plaintiff-Appellee,

 versus

JEANINE JEANTY, 

 Defendant-Appellant.

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Appeal from the United States District Court

for the Middle District of Florida

________________________

(September 10, 2019)

Before TJOFLAT, WILSON and HULL, Circuit Judges.

PER CURIAM: 

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Jeanine Jeanty, along with her brother, Jean Jeanty, her father, Jacques 

Jeanty, and her employer, Samuel Belizaire, were indicted for participation in a 

scheme that entailed stealing names and social security numbers; using that 

information (along with false income information) to apply for tax refunds; and 

collecting the refund checks at addresses that Jeanine Jeanty or another conspirator 

owned or controlled.1 The jury convicted her on all charges,2 and the district court

sentenced her to a total of 236 months’ imprisonment.3

 

She appeals her convictions and total sentence. She challenges her 

convictions on the grounds that the evidence was insufficient to convict and that 

the district court’s erred in instructing the jury on deliberate ignorance because the 

government had not provided facts establishing that she was deliberately 

indifferent to the offenses she was allegedly committing. She appeals her total 

sentence as substantively unreasonable because it was above the Guidelines 

sentence range.

1 The indictment contained eight counts. Conspiracy, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 371, to 

steal property from the United States, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 641 (Count One); stealing 

property from the United States, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 641 and 2 (Counts Two through 

Six); and aggravated identity theft, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 1028A(a)(1) and (b) and (2)

(Counts Seven and Eight). 2 Jean Jeanty and Belizaire plead guilty to Count One. Jacques Jeanty was not 

apprehended until after Jeanine Jeanty’s trial.

3 The district court sentenced Jeanty to prison terms of 60 months on Count One; 120 

months on each of Counts Two through Five consecutive to the Count One term; eight months 

on Count Six consecutive to the Counts One through Five terms; and 24 months on each of 

Counts Seven and Eight consecutive to each other and the terms imposed on the previous counts.

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I.

We review a challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence de novo to 

“determine whether a reasonable jury could have found the defendant guilty 

beyond a reasonable doubt.” United States v. Mercer, 541 F.3d 1070, 

1074 (11th Cir. 2008). The evidence is viewed in the light most favorable to the 

government, and all reasonable inferences and credibility determinations are drawn 

in favor of the verdict. United States v. Simpson, 228 F.3d 1294, 1299 (11th Cir. 

2000). “A conviction must be upheld unless the jury could not have found the 

defendant guilty under any reasonable construction of the evidence.” United States 

v. Chastain, 198 F.3d 1338, 1351 (11th Cir. 1999). We make “no 

distinction . . . between the weight given to either direct or circumstantial 

evidence,” but “[w]here the [G]overnment relies on circumstantial evidence, 

reasonable inferences, and not mere speculation, must support the jury’s verdict.” 

United States v. Isnadin, 742 F.3d 1278, 1303 (11th Cir. 2014) (quotation marks 

omitted) (alterations in original).

To prove conspiracy under 18 U.S.C. § 371, the government must 

show (1) the existence of an agreement to achieve an unlawful goal, (2) the 

defendant willingly and knowingly participated in the conspiracy, and (3) the 

defendant committed an overt act in furtherance of the conspiracy. United States v. 

Ibarguen-Mosquera, 634 F.3d 1370, 1385 (11th Cir. 2011).

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To support a conviction under 18 U.S.C. § 641, the government must prove 

that (1) the money or property belonged to the government, (2) the defendant 

fraudulently appropriated the money or property to her own use or the use of 

others, and (3) the defendant did so knowingly and willfully with the intent to 

either temporarily or permanently deprive the owner of the use of the money or 

property. United States v. McRee, 7 F.3d 976, 980 (11th Cir. 1993) (en banc).

A person commits aggravated identity theft when she “knowingly transfers, 

possesses, or uses, without lawful authority, a means of identification of another 

person” in relation to a violation of 18 U.S.C. § 641. 18 U.S.C. § 1028A(a)(1).

Under 18 U.S.C. § 2, aiding and abetting is not a separate federal crime, “but 

rather an alternative charge that permits one to be found guilty as a principal for 

aiding or procuring someone else to commit the offense.” United States v. Martin, 

747 F.2d 1404, 1407 (11th Cir. 1984). Thus, to convict under a theory of aiding 

and abetting, the government must prove that: (1) the substantive offense was 

committed by someone; (2) the defendant contributed to and furthered the offense; 

and (3) the defendant intended to aid in its commission. United States v. Tagg, 

572 F.3d 1320, 1324 (11th Cir. 2009).

If, as here, the defendant testifies on her own behalf, she risks the jury 

concluding the opposite of her testimony is true. United States v. Brown, 53 F.3d 

312, 314 (11th Cir. 1995). Statements made by the defendant may be considered 

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as substantive evidence of guilt if the jury disbelieves it. Id. If there is some 

corroborative evidence of guilt for the charged offense, and the defendant testifies

on her own behalf, her testimony denying guilt may, by itself, establish the 

elements of the offense. Id. at 314-315. This is especially true where the offense 

includes subjective elements, such as intent or knowledge. Id. at 315.

The government presented sufficient evidence for the jury to convict Jeanty

on all counts beyond a reasonable doubt. The evidence showed that J&J Multi 

Services’ and J&W Consultant Company’s bank accounts were mostly funded by 

fraudulent tax refund checks; those tax refund checks were mailed to addresses on 

fraudulent tax returns that were connected with Jeanty and others associated with 

her; intended beneficiaries of the checks, or their spouses and guardians, had no 

knowledge of the tax returns or tax refund checks; Jeanty and others associated 

with her ran fraudulent check cashing operations; and Jeanty and others associated 

with her drew funds from J&J Multi Services’ and J&W Consultant Company’s 

bank accounts for the purchase of properties and cash withdrawals. Although 

Jeanty testified and denied any knowledge of the fraudulent scheme, the jury was 

free to conclude that the opposite of what she said was true. Thus, viewed in the 

light most favorable to the government, a jury could reasonably conclude that 

Jeanty committed the charged offenses, including conspiracy to steal money from 

the United States for her own use or the use of others. 

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II.

A challenge to a jury instruction presents a question of law, which we

review de novo. United States v. Stone, 9 F.3d 934, 937 (11th Cir. 1993). “A 

deliberate ignorance instruction is appropriate only when there is evidence in the 

record showing the defendant purposely contrived to avoid learning the truth.” 

Stone, 9 F.3d at 937 (quotation marks omitted). However, we “need not determine 

whether the evidence of deliberate ignorance was nonexistent, insufficient, or 

sufficient to support the instruction” when evidence of actual knowledge is 

sufficient to support a guilty verdict. Id. Moreover, we have stated that a 

deliberate ignorance instruction that states the proper legal standard is harmless 

error, because, by its own terms, the deliberate ignorance instruction does not 

apply if there is insufficient evidence to prove deliberate ignorance beyond a

reasonable doubt and, thus, there is no reason to believe that a jury convicted a 

defendant on a deliberate ignorance theory for which there was insufficient 

evidence. Id. at 941-42.

The district court did not err in giving a deliberate ignorance instruction. 

First, we are not required to determine whether the government introduced some or 

no evidence of deliberate ignorance because the government presented sufficient 

evidence to establish that Jeanty had actual knowledge of a conspiracy to steal 

money from the United States. Given that corroborating evidence, Jeanty’s

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testimony could, by itself, establish the elements of the offense, including her 

knowledge. Second, even if the district court erred in giving the deliberate 

ignorance instruction, the error was harmless because the district court’s 

instruction stated the proper legal standard for the jury to apply.

III.

We review the substantive reasonableness of a sentence for abuse of 

discretion. United States v. Osorio-Moreno, 814 F.3d 1282, 1287 (11th Cir. 2016). 

We ordinarily expect, without presuming, that a sentence within the guidelines 

range is reasonable. United States v. Hunt, 526 F.3d 739, 746 (11th Cir. 2008). A 

sentence well below the statutory maximum term of imprisonment “is an indicator 

of a reasonable sentence.” United States v. Stanley, 739 F.3d 633, 656 (11th Cir. 

2014). 

The district court must impose a sentence “sufficient, but not greater than 

necessary” to comply with the [18 U.S.C.] § 3553(a) factors, which include the 

need to reflect the seriousness of the offense, promote respect for the law, provide 

just punishment for the offense, deter criminal conduct, protect the public from the 

defendant’s future criminal conduct, and provide medical care in the most effective 

manner. 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a)(2). In imposing a particular sentence, the court must 

also consider the nature and circumstances of the offense, the history and 

characteristics of the defendant, the kinds of sentences available, the applicable 

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guidelines range, the pertinent policy statements of the Sentencing Commission, 

the need to avoid unwarranted sentencing disparities, and the need to provide 

restitution to victims. Id. § 3553(a)(1), (3)-(7).

Moreover, this Court deems an issue raised in an appellate brief abandoned 

when the party makes only passing or conclusory references regarding the error 

without offering substantive argument on it. United States v. Morales, 893 F.3d 

1360, 1372 (11th Cir. 2018) (concluding that the defendant abandoned his 

substantively unreasonable sentence claim because he only included “a single 

conclusory sentence [about the claim] at the end of his brief without any 

supporting arguments or authority”).

Jeanine Jeanty abandoned her claim because she did not provide supporting 

arguments or authority for why her total sentence was substantively unreasonable 

because it was 48 months above the Guidelines sentence range. Even if she had 

not abandoned her claim, she has not met her burden of proving that her 236-

month’s sentence was unreasonable. The district court added an additional terms 

of 48 months for Counts Seven and Eight to the terms imposed on Counts One 

through Six on finding that the total 236-month’s sentence was appropriate and not 

greater than necessary, and well below the 708-month’s statutory maximum term 

of imprisonment. 

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For the foregoing reasons, Jeanine Jeanty’s convictions and total sentence 

are

AFFIRMED.

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